Midterms 2018
November 9, 2018
There was much to celebrate after this week’s election, especially the strides made in criminal justice reform. In Louisiana, Amendment 2 passed easily, which means
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Ten years after being wrongfully convicted, Florida prisoner leaves death row
November 9, 2018
He spent 14 years, 10 of them on death row, and on Monday, Florida prosecutors announced they would not proceed with a retrial for Clemente
SCOTUS hears case of Missouri man too sick for lethal injection
November 9, 2018
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of 50-year-old Russell Bucklew, a Missouri death row prisoner who came within a few
In brief: November 2018
November 9, 2018
In Mississippi, a man who has been on death row for over 20 years, after being tried six times for a quadruple murder in 1996,
While we’re on the subject. . .
November 9, 2018
In his op-ed in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, “It’s Wrong for an Imperfect System to Impose an Irreversible Punishment,” former district attorney Tim Cole notes
Voices: Rev. Joseph Ingle
November 9, 2018
Tennessee’s nine-year break in executions ended in August when the state killed Billy Ray Irick by lethal injection. Last week, Edmund Zagorski was executed by
A “comic” look at lethal injection
October 12, 2018
There is nothing new about comics depicting tragedy. Comics and graphic novels have been covering serious topics for years. Art Spiegelman’s classic graphic novel, Maus,
“Women on Death Row: Invisible Subjects of Gender Discrimination”
October 12, 2018
California has the largest female death row in the U.S., with 23 condemned women imprisoned at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. Four women
Kavanaugh, SCOTUS, and criminal justice
October 12, 2018
In the words of Bob Dylan, “It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.” The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, replacing
SCOTUS considers dementia and the death penalty
October 12, 2018
“The eighth amendment isn’t just a window. It’s a mirror. And what the Court has said is that our norms, our values are implicated when
Tennessee prisoner chooses electric chair over lethal injection
October 12, 2018
(This is a developing story. We will continue to update it as events unfold.) Yesterday, just a few hours before Edmund Zagorski was scheduled to be executed,
Julius Jones’ racial bias petition denied
October 12, 2018
Although court documents state that a member of the Oklahoma jury that sentenced Julius Jones to death for the July 1999 fatal shooting of 45-year-old Paul Howell
Rev. Caroll Pickett Dies
April 25, 2022
The Rev. Caroll Pickett, who, as prison chaplain on Texas’s death row, witnessed 95 executions, died earlier this month. He was 88. He told the
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issues temporary reprieve for Oscar Smith
April 22, 2022
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued a temporary reprieve for Oscar Smith on Thursday, WKRN.com reports. “Due to an oversight in preparation for lethal injection, the
In brief: April 2022
April 19, 2022
In Missouri, Carman Deck is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday for the 1996 killings of James and Zelma Long. Deck’s 1998 death sentence had
Bipartisan group of Texas legislators meets with Melissa Lucio on death row
April 12, 2022
In less than three weeks, Melissa Lucio is scheduled to be executed by Texas for the killing of her two-year-old daughter, despite overwhelming evidence her
Jury to determine life or death for Parkland school shooter
April 5, 2022
Jury selection for the penalty phase of the trial for Nikolas Cruz began this week. Cruz pleaded guilty in October to killing 17 people and
Thank you for making our Annual Awards Event a success!
March 29, 2022
Our Annual Awards Event last Thursday was a powerful reminder of how far we’ve come since we held our first event 30 years ago. And
While we’re on the subject . . .
March 29, 2022
On “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Oliver explains just how overwhelmingly difficult it is to be exonerated for a wrongful conviction even in the
In brief: March 2022
March 29, 2022
In Kentucky, a bill prohibiting the execution of people with serious mental illness passed last week. HB 269 adds mental illness to the list of
2022 Virtual Awards Event (On-Demand)
March 24, 2022
Death Penalty Focus Presents: 30th Awards Event (Virtual) Originally Aired: March 24, 2022 Watch On-Demand Tribute Journal Donate About While 2021 was difficult in many
